Popular Culture

In the United States the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution is started in 1920, which outlawed the production and consumption of alcohol and was more commonly known as Prohibition.

What News Events Happened in 1920

UK

The war in Europe was over but politicians realized that many men who were coming home after the war would not have homes to go to and Britain was one of the countries that tried to address this by announcing it would build 1,000,000 homes for war veterans.

More Information and Timeline For 1920s Housing Boom
1. World War I ended in 1918, world leaders realized returning soldiers needed homes
2. In England British Prime Minister Lloyd George called for Homes fit for heroes to be built, The British Ministry of Health published The Housing Manual which contained a pattern of simple housing designs together with lax planning laws, cheap land and low deposits ( £50 deposit ) on a £850 home created large new housing estates across the UK.
3. In the United States increased home construction centered mostly on a few key areas Florida and Chicago both saw large numbers of new homes built, other parts of the country also saw increased construction, reasons were many men coming home from war needing homes and with low interest rates and a weakening of banking supervision leading to Financial innovation which meant loans were made with less oversite.
4. By the late 20's in the U.S. ( 1926 and 1927 ) the housing bubble caused by the large scale home building and low interest rates caused the housing market to collapse in the U.S. and although not thought to be the direct cause of The Great Depression is thought to have had some impact.

U.S.

Nineteenth Amendment To The Constitution ratified on August 18, giving women the right to vote.

More Information and Timeline For Nineteenth Amendment To The Constitution
1. The Nineteenth Amendment's text was drafted by Susan B. Anthony with the assistance of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and was first introduced in 1878.
2. The women's suffrage movement pressed for its inclusion for nearly 40 years with little success.
3. Following President Woodrow Wilson making a strong and widely published appeal to Congress to pass the amendment it passed on May 21, 1919.
4. The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on August 18th.
5. Women voted for the first time during the general elections.

China

An earthquake measuring 8.5 magnitude on the Richter scale hits the heavily populated of Gansu province of China.

Russia

The Russian Civil war Ends but famine begins and worsens the following year.

More Information and Timeline for Russian Civil War
1. Nicholas II is crowned Tsar of Russia in May of 1896.
2. The Socialist Revolutionary Party is founded in 1901.
3. A small revolution begins with a strike in St. Petersburg. Peaceful protesters go to the Winter Palace to give the Tsar a petition and the Imperial Guard fires on the crowd, killing two-hundred people on January 9th, 1905.
4. Tsar Nicholas II implements a few reforms like the creation of the State Duma.
5. Russia joins the fighting during World War I in 1914.
6. Demonstrations begin during the February Revolution of 1917 and Nicholas II abdicates after the Duma defies his orders to dissolve and instead creates a provisional government.
7. The Red Army is created during the October Revolution of 1917 and the All Russian Congress of Soviets chooses Lenin as their leader, after the Bolsheviks overthrow the provisional government.
8. The White Army begins their fight against the Communists at the end of 1917, marking the beginning of the Russian Civil War.
9. The Russian Constitution of 1918 is established and creates the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. Lenin orders the execution of the Tsar and his family and the Red Army begins massive expansions in 1918.
10. A unified anti-Bolshevik government is created in September of 1918 and is called the Ufa Directorate, it is overthrown in November of that year.
11. The Red Army and Soviet Russia continue to expand and encourage the territories surrounding Russia to become communist, supporting their revolutions.
12. The White Movement loses widespread support as the Red Army continues to gain ground and the White Army's commander, Pyotr Wrangel, flees Russia, marking the end of the Russian Civil War. There were an estimated three million lives lost due to fighting, disease and famine during that period.
13. Famine strikes the Soviet Union immediately after the end of the civil war, killing an estimated five million or more people.

U.S.

Prohibition comes into effect when the 18th Amendment is passed.

More Information and Timeline For Eighteenth Amendment To The Constitution
1. The Women's Christian Temperance Union marches on Washington D.C. on December 10th of 1913, asking the US government to create a prohibition amendment.
2. The US Senate proposes the 18th amendment to outlaw the production, transport and sale of alcohol.
3. The 18th amendment is ratified on January 16th of 1919, after being adopted by thirty six states.
4. Congress passes the Volstead Act (National Prohibition Act) on October 28th, 1919, which establishes the definition of illegal liquor and the punishments for making it.
5. The 18th amendment goes into effect on January 16th,
6. From the beginning of prohibition until it is repealed, organized crime increases as violent gangs produce and transport black market alcohol that is sold in speakeasies.
7. President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Cullen-Harrison Act on March 22nd of 1933, which legalizes some alcohol.
8. The 21st amendment is ratified on December 5th, 1933 and repeals the 18th amendment and effectively ends prohibition.

U.S.

Radical anarchists bomb Wall Street killing 38.

World

Influenza (the flu) and pneumonia spread Worldwide killing many thousands.

France

The League of Nations comes into being in Paris and the US Senate votes against joining.

Switzerland

Switzerland joins the League of Nations.

Canada

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Force is established after merging the Royal Northwest Mounted Police and the Dominion Police.

On November 11th The Tomb of The Unknown Warrior is buried in Westminster Abbey, London, signifying the soldiers killed during World War I who were not identified. It is the first example of a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Mexico

After a decade of fighting the Mexican Revolution ends

U.S.

The U.S. Justice and Immigration Departments conduct The Palmer Raid on January 19th and arrest 6,000 foreign aliens who were deported as suspected radical leftists.

Ireland

During the Irish Revolution on November 21st Bloody Sunday left more than 31 people were killed including fourteen British, fourteen Irish civilians and three republican prisoners, An Irish Republican Army (IRA) operation assassinates the Cairo Gang a team of undercover agents working and living in Dublin including 12 British Army officers, one a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary and the last a civilian informant, In Retaliation The Royal Irish Constabulary opened fire on the crowd at a Gaelic football match in Croke Park, killing fourteen civilians. On December 10th Martial law is declared in Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary. Following increasing violence the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 is passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, receives Royal Assent from George V providing for the partition of Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland with separate parliaments, granting a measure of home rule

U.S.

George Polley "The Human Fly" is arrested on the 30th Floor while trying to climb up the outside of the Woolworth Building in New York before he reached the top (57th )floor on January 9th.

U.S.

At the final meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association celebrating the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution giving women the right to vote, The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.

U.S.

The United States Railroad Administration created during World War I in 1917 to ensure the quick and efficient movement of arms and men needed to support the war returns control of American railroads to its constituent railroad companies

Japan Prime Minister Takashi Hara Mexico President Adolfo de la Huerta From June 1stMexico President Adolfo de la Huerta until November 30thMexico President Álvaro Obregón From 1 December Russia / Soviet Union Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Vladimir Lenin South Africa Prime Minister Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts United States President Woodrow Wilson United Kingdom Prime Minister David Lloyd George